Designed by Architect to the Metropolitan Police, John Dixon Butler FRIBA, the Greenwich Magistrates’ Court opened in 1909 with an integral police station. The Symmetrical frontage is faced in Portland Stone in a free Classical style and features a central semi-circular tablet with Royal Coat of Arms, carved in stone by Lawrence Turner.
Inside, the entranceway leads to the former police station foyer which has a mosaic tiled floor with MP monogram (for Metropolitan Police) laid by Messrs Diespeker. The foyer leads onto Court 1, the main courtroom which is toplit with a decorative plaster frieze around the light well and a monogram of Edward VII in plaster above the bench. The Courtroom has mostly original fittings and the bench is in a curved recess, up three steps. The court has its own custody suite. The suite consists of nine prison cells with associated facilities for booking in prisoners etc.
Visited here with @AndyK a few months back. We sat on this for a while as we were hoping to return and see if we missed any bits but never got around to it. Anyway, I think we saw all the best bits. Here are a few of my photos to begin with, and a few taken by Andy at the end. I also poached the history from his website report, so cheers for that!
A few shots of the custody suite from Andy
Thanks for looking
Inside, the entranceway leads to the former police station foyer which has a mosaic tiled floor with MP monogram (for Metropolitan Police) laid by Messrs Diespeker. The foyer leads onto Court 1, the main courtroom which is toplit with a decorative plaster frieze around the light well and a monogram of Edward VII in plaster above the bench. The Courtroom has mostly original fittings and the bench is in a curved recess, up three steps. The court has its own custody suite. The suite consists of nine prison cells with associated facilities for booking in prisoners etc.
Visited here with @AndyK a few months back. We sat on this for a while as we were hoping to return and see if we missed any bits but never got around to it. Anyway, I think we saw all the best bits. Here are a few of my photos to begin with, and a few taken by Andy at the end. I also poached the history from his website report, so cheers for that!
A few shots of the custody suite from Andy
Thanks for looking
